Reclaiming Our Way promoting the well-being of African American children & families

21Jul/140

The Case Against the Prison State: From ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’

From Last Week Tonight with John Oliver...  Here's a relatively short summary of the immoral and unsustainable reality of prisons and mass incarceration in the United States.

Of course, the reality is far worse and more extreme than this short overview can really tap into.

Some of the major themes:

  • Extreme rates of incarceration in the United States
  • Extreme racial disparities
  • Inhumane conditions of solitary confinement
  • Immoral and financially unsustainable movement toward private prisons
  • Unacceptable track record of private prison corporations
  • Inadequate health and medical practices within prisons
  • Ineffective "corrections" function, and the resulting high rates of recidivism

Published on July 20, 2014